The chaos surrounding health care in the United States is embarrassing, especially when a proven and cost-effective solution already exists. In 2015, the U.S. healthcare cost per person was $9,900, about twice that of Canada. The 2015 net Medicare cost cost per beneficiary was $9,765, about 1.4 percent lower than the overall cost per person.

However, when you take into account that Medicare served the highest-cost cohort of people over 65, the cost per person is significantly lower than it would be in the open insurance market. If the entire population were covered by Medicare, the overall cost of health care per person could drop by as much as half, in line with most developed countries.

Medicare is not a single payer system but a combination of single payer like Canada and, with optional Advantage Plans, managed insurance like Germany. Unlike private insurance plans, Medicare is very popular with participants who do not have to deal with complex choices and can freely choose their doctors and specialists.

If Republicans could see past their ideological blinders they would realize that, with "Medicare for All" they could deliver universal health care at a much lower cost, with more choice and less complexity.